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Three Packers crash the top eight as Stroud takes Week 9 by a tenth
Jordan Love, Matthew Golden and Christian Watson all topped 30 PPR points in one win, while C.J. Stroud's 36.4 edged Kenneth Walker III by 0.1.
36.4
Stroud's points, the most of the week
0.1
Stroud's edge over Walker
28.5
points needed for the top 10
8
players with 30 or more
Eight players cleared 30 PPR points in Week 9. Three of them wore Green Bay uniforms, and all three did it in the same game, a 45–27 win at New England.
Jordan Love finished third with 36.2 points, Matthew Golden sixth with 32.4 and Christian Watson eighth with 30.1. C.J. Stroud still took the week at 36.4, but he needed his fifth touchdown pass to get there, and he beat Kenneth Walker III by a tenth of a point.
Week 8PreviouslyThree Bengals crash the top four as Burrow takes Week 8 by five pointsThree Packers, one afternoon
Love was nearly flawless: 23 of 29 for 372 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He added a 13-yard rushing touchdown on his only carry. He threw for 219 yards in the first half and 153 more after the break.
Golden set the tone. He scored 24.6 points in the first quarter alone, the biggest single quarter anyone posted all week, and finished a perfect 10 catches on 10 targets for 164 yards and a touchdown, with a long of 49. Watson needed fewer looks: seven catches on eight targets for 171 yards, a score and a 43-yard gain.
As the late window played out, the Packers climbed the board together, Love to 35.7 and Watson to 30.1. For fantasy managers, the lesson is concentration. Golden and Watson accounted for 335 of Love's 372 passing yards, and Golden caught all 10 balls thrown his way, Watson 7 of 8.
Stroud's fifth touchdown
Stroud did his building early. He threw for 230 yards in the first half and went into the break at 20.9 points. His second half produced only 154 yards, but the touchdowns kept coming. He finished 21 of 35 for 384 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, plus 20 rushing yards, in a 44–22 win at the Chargers.
The fifth touchdown decided the week. It lifted him past Walker by 0.1, and Love, who settled at 36.2, slid to third. The top three finished within 0.2 points of one another.
Two of those five scores went to Kayshon Boutte, who turned four catches on five targets into 125 yards, two touchdowns and a 63-yard long. His 28.5 points landed right on the line it took to crack the top 10.
Walker's lead, and the chase behind it
Walker had owned the top spot since the early window. He ran 18 times for 102 yards and a touchdown in Kansas City's 35–12 win over the Jets, then caught all four of his targets for 41 yards and two more scores. His third touchdown took him to 35.1 and the lead.
Puka Nacua pushed him the whole way, finishing with 14 catches on 19 targets for 150 yards and a touchdown to reach 35.0. Walker held and closed at 36.3, a total that stood until Stroud's last score. CeeDee Lamb put up 18.4 points in a single quarter in the same window and finished at 33.5 on 10 catches, 195 yards and a touchdown.
Madrid produced a duel of its own. Ja'Marr Chase scored 14 points in the first quarter and had 28.2 by halftime, while Joe Burrow threw three first-half touchdowns. Burrow's fourth touchdown moved him past Chase, but Chase edged back ahead to finish at 31.5. Burrow ended at 29.5 after throwing for just 32 yards in the second half of a 34–17 win at Atlanta.
The rest of the week moved little
Sunday night left the top of the board alone until Bucky Irving got going late. He was at 15.9 points into the fourth quarter and finished at 28.5 on 20 carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns, plus four catches for 28 yards, in a 27–24 loss at Chicago. That tied him with Boutte at the cutoff.
The bookends were quiet. Justice Hill led Thursday night with 18.2, 13.6 of them in the fourth quarter. James Cook III led Monday night with 16.7, scoring late, but Stroud's 36.4 was never in reach.
Across 15 games, 23 players reached 20 points. Stroud owns the week by the smallest possible margin. Green Bay owns the story: one offense, three players among the top eight and 98.7 points between them.
The top 10
- C.J. Stroud (QB, HOU) — 36.4
- Kenneth Walker III (RB, KC) — 36.3
- Jordan Love (QB, GB) — 36.2
- Puka Nacua (WR, LAR) — 35.0
- CeeDee Lamb (WR, DAL) — 33.5
- Matthew Golden (WR, GB) — 32.4
- Ja'Marr Chase (WR, CIN) — 31.5
- Christian Watson (WR, GB) — 30.1
- Joe Burrow (QB, CIN) — 29.5
- Kayshon Boutte (WR, HOU) — 28.5, tied with Bucky Irving (RB, TB)
